Major Differences between IITs and Engineering Colleges in India?

It is a dream of every engineering aspirant to get admission in one of the IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology). However, only a bunch in millions actually enters an IIT. The JEE or Joint Entrance Examination for IITs is a real tough nut to crack, and these institutions only have a few thousand seats to accommodate engineering students. The rest of the students have to move on to colleges next to IITs or even further. However, it is important to find out whether other engineering colleges in India are very different from IITs or not. It is also necessary to understand how these colleges differ from IITs.

About IITs

If you cannot understand the craze of other engineering students for IITs, then you must know more about this group of institutions. Governed by the 1961 Institutes of Technology Act, these autonomous public institutes (IITs) are declared by the Government of India as the Institute of National Importance (INI status).Currently, there are 19 IITs that together offer more than around 11,000 seats to engineering students. These premier engineering colleges in India admit students based on the JEE scores. For admissions in Master’s degree courses, IITs consider the GATE scores of students.
Some of the oldest IITs are located in Kharagpur, Bombay, Kanpur, Madras, Delhi, Guwahati, Indore, Hyderabad, Varanasi, Dhanbad, and Roorkee. The first IIT was established in 1951 in Kharagpur. Afterwards, IIT Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, and Madras were founded. The sixth campus came up in Guwahati in 1960, while the oldest engineering institution in India called the University of Roorkee was given the IIT status in 2001. The same status of being an IIT was also given to IT-BHU and recently to ISM Dhanbad. Meanwhile, several other IITs were created while a few are in the process of being operational. The group of these leading engineering colleges in India is now a brand name.

About Non-IIT Engineering Colleges

While IITs are the Tier-1 engineering institutions in the country, not every student gets admission here. Many of them have to find admission options in other Tier-1, Tier-2, or Tier-3 engineering colleges in India. Not each of these institutions can compete with IITs. Still, you will find several engineering colleges in Tier-1 that are at par with IITs. Check out here the list of some popular names in Tier-1, Tier-2, and Tier-3.

Note: While there are also Tier-4 and other low-ranked engineering colleges, we have only mentioned some of the renowned Tier-1, 2, and 3 colleges. Beyond Tier-III colleges, there is hardly a comparison that can be done between IITs and those institutions. Please note that we have not mentioned all colleges in these categories.

Factors Differentiating IITs from Other Engineering Institutes

IITs mostly differentiate from other engineering colleges in India in terms of their quality of education. However, many other factors contribute to their becoming the topmost brand name. Let us see what these parameters are and how these parameters make IITs unarguably better than other colleges:

Pedagogy

At IITs, the faculty adopts a unique teaching pedagogy. As all faculty members are the best of professors and professionals from the relevant industry, they make sure to pass on the practical knowledge to their students. Even the senior-most faculty at IITs is accessible to entry-level engineering students. A great interaction and personal bond between the faculty and students makes IITs the standard for other engineering colleges in India. Still, some good Tier-1 and Tier-2 colleges like NITs and IISc provide practical and research exposure to their students.

The quality of education and educationists

IITs hire the best of faculty available in India. These educationists also have extensive experience of working in renowned organisations and as highly successful entrepreneurs. Thus, they can bring the right industry examples and exposure to the desk of each student at IITs. The teaching is flexible even when there is a stringent curriculum to follow. The enriched courses available in IITs are hardly available in any other engineering colleges. Most engineering colleges in India, especially Tier-3 and Tier-4 colleges, are in poor shape when it comes to providing practical learning and research and developmental opportunities to students.

Alumni network

While you will find IIT alumni doing excellently in their firms and as entrepreneurs, the alumni network of other engineering institutes is good to average. The way IIT alumni have been contributing to the building and development of the country is remarkable and exceptional in comparison to any other college. However, some old NITs, BITS, DTU, and such colleges have also been churning out the brightest of engineers.

Infrastructure and facilities

Many good engineering colleges in India have superb infrastructure and facilities to ensure a good campus life for students. However, it can only be found in Tier-1 colleges or a few Tier-2 colleges. On the other hand, all IITs excel in this area. IITs offer adequate and state-of-the-art infrastructure and well-equipped facilities to their students. Ranging from research and language labs and resourceful libraries to sports rooms and high Internet connectivity, IITs have been offering everything a student would require to be comfortable and motivated.

Campus life

IITs provide a great peer group environment and vibrant campus life, which is almost incomparable to any other engineering college. From extracurricular and co-curricular activities to team building events, seminars, conferences, and social and cultural activities, students are exposed to it all at IITs. While some other engineering colleges in India have an enriched campus life, it is not the case with most of them.

Student placement

Only a few other engineering colleges can match the consistently 100% student placement record of IITs. The rest of the colleges only have an average to good placement. IITs have good collaboration with the industry that facilitates students in joining the world’s topmost firms and Fortune 500 companies with very high packages. Most Tier-2 and Tier-3 colleges place students in jobs that earn them just 1/3rd of what IIT students earn in their jobs. However, the placement scenario is good at NITs, IISc, and other Tier-1 colleges.